25 March 2022 Little Pieces

Check out 25 March 2022 Friday chat https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1436265682

Hello to you. I hope this finds you well. Last night my Aunt, three friends of hers and I went to see the opening night of Matilda at the Nampa Civic Center. We made it through the first half and decided that was enough. The little girl that was cast as Matilda just didn’t resonate with us. For example for the first song none of us could understand what she was singing and it was loud. My favorite character was Miss Agatha Trunchbull. The man playing the part was hilarious. As with most things in the performance arts, the performer will either resonate with you or they won’t. Not everyone likes Bono from U2 for example. The little girl just didn’t resonate with me. That’s not saying she wasn’t talented or anything like that. So that was interesting and it’s the first time I’ve driven at night here!

I was thinking about my post yesterday about how I see, experience and understand God. What came to me as an example of how complex it must be to answer even the smallest of prayers was a family meal. Think about some of the meals you make, even just the trip to the grocery store. So many little pieces go into even just a hot dog or peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It’s like an episode of How It’s Made but for each and every part of the meal. I think about all the people involved with the life of food, machinery, climactic conditions like floods or droughts, the health of the animal stock, fuel prices….so many little pieces have to fit together for just one hot dog! When I began thinking about how complex it is to make a family meal or even feeding just one person, it made me think of what it must be like to be God answering or not answering a prayer. How complicated it must be to have everything in alignment…..so many little pieces. Sometimes pieces seen as insignificant or not relevant but if they are missing things can’t happen. I truly believe that behind every unanswered prayer there is a reason. The other thing to remember too is sometimes what we want and are asking God for isn’t possible…..realistic. Sometimes the answer isn’t how we expect it and we miss it. Sometimes we have to wait for answer. Just like with putting together a meal – all the individual pieces in all the ways those individual items come to reality have to be acquired for that meal to happen! I think Covid has shown us a lot about how dependent we are on each other – like factory workers and truck drivers for example.

The other thing I thought about yesterday with regards to answered and unanswered prayers – people in particular. What is often overlooked is the individual will of the people we are praying for. We don’t know what they want for themselves. We don’t know what kind of conversations they are having with their Higher Power. For example we might find out someone has cancer and immediately begin praying they be cured. What if the person doesn’t want to be cured? What if they want things to be over with? Again….not as simple as things may seem. I think about what we are told Jesus said when he prayed about the sparing of his own life…(Luke 22:42) 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup(F) from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus had his own relationship with God. The apostles could pray for his life to be spared but Jesus was already working things out with God for himself.

Little pieces of the big picture to consider when you are deciding if you do or don’t believe in God. The stuff I’m sharing is what strengthens my personal relationship with The God of my understanding.

The messages from A Woman’s Spirit were good. Sometimes when people get into recovery and are feeling better they try to make up for lost time. They try to do too much at once. It’s important to remember that even doing a small part, a little piece of what you want to accomplish is enough:

I don’t train for a marathon when I simply want to run five mile races. -Patricia Roth Wuertzer

Today I’ll remind myself that I don’t have to complete a big project every day. Making some progress is enough.

16 March 2022 Tapestry

Check out 16 March 2022 Wednesday chat https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1427420115

I believe God is with all of us

Hello to you. How are you today? I’m feeling a little tired but it will pass. Things are doing things!! I didn’t know it but apparently the UN is trying to come up with a global plastic treaty. I think that’s great. My only concern is that once the treaty is made that it will actually be enforced! Kind of like laws. Laws are great on paper but are worthless if there is no one to enforce them! https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/as-world-drowns-in-plastic-waste-u-n-to-hammer-out-global-treaty/amp/ The other thing is daylight savings. Our Senate is putting a bill forward that would make it permanent – no more setting our clocks to fall back: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/03/15/politics/senate-daylight-saving-time-permanent/index.html.

Todays message from A Woman’s Spirit is so good I am going to share all of it:

We are who we are, shaped and molded by the times, by the events, and by the persons we encounter on our way, and no one ever changes very much or escapes entirely from that mold. – Ruth Casey

Everything we experience today is woven with all that has gone before. We are a tapestry in progress. We grow and change, heightening some of our patterns, successfully diminishing others, and maintaining still others. We need feel more shame for this person we’ve become; we’ve done our best. From this point forward, with the help of the program, our Higher Power , and the wonderful friendships that sustain us, we will add many new colors and stronger threads to the tapestry that continues to be us.

Even though there is often much we want to change in ourselves, there is much that will and should stay the same. Let’s trust God will guide our efforts in changing those traits that deserve our attention now, leaving the rest for another time. We have been loved, guided, and protected even though we are not perfect. That will be true always.

All that has gone before will help me handle whatever today offers. I am in Gods keeping now and forever.

______________

The skies yesterday

Today this Psalm 103 resonated. I was looking for a Psalm to read for my Twitch video and I came across this one with lots of it highlighted! May be there is something within it that will resonate with you too:

Psalm 103New International Version

Psalm 103

Of David.

Praise the Lord,(A) my soul;(B)
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.(C)
Praise the Lord,(D) my soul,
    and forget not(E) all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins(F)
    and heals(G) all your diseases,
who redeems your life(H) from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,(I)
who satisfies(J) your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed(K) like the eagle’s.(L)

The Lord works righteousness(M)
    and justice for all the oppressed.(N)

He made known(O) his ways(P) to Moses,
    his deeds(Q) to the people of Israel:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,(R)
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;(S)
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve(T)
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love(U) for those who fear him;(V)
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions(W) from us.

13 As a father has compassion(X) on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,(Y)
    he remembers that we are dust.(Z)
15 The life of mortals is like grass,(AA)
    they flourish like a flower(AB) of the field;
16 the wind blows(AC) over it and it is gone,
    and its place(AD) remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children(AE)
18 with those who keep his covenant(AF)
    and remember(AG) to obey his precepts.(AH)

19 The Lord has established his throne(AI)in heaven,
    and his kingdom rules(AJ) over all.

20 Praise the Lord,(AK) you his angels,(AL)
    you mighty ones(AM) who do his bidding,(AN)
    who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,(AO)
    you his servants(AP) who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works(AQ)
    everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.(AR)

11 March 2022 Water and Power Grids

Check out 11 March 2022 Friday chat https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1422335182

Check out 11 March 2022 Friday chat https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1422344815

(For some reason I got interrupted mid-stream so it’s in two parts)

Hello to you. How are you today? I’ll start with the message from A Woman’s Spirit. It was really good. It was about how when we remove addicting substances or other obstructions we are able to get to know ourselves better.

“We don’t necessarily like every aspect of who we are now. And most of us loathe who we used to be. But having the tools to peel away the layers of denial about the past and having the willingness to face our feelings are paramount to becoming who we’d rather be. What we’re getting to, what’s deep in our soul, is the person God has hoped would emerge all along. Having the chance to know our soul is a profoundly important gift. Let’s gently unwrap it.”

On my Twitch Stream today my focus was on the crisis I see with our global water supply. Why does it seem like clouds don’t form on their own anymore? I lived in a state that heavily relied on cloud seeding to keep up with increased demands for water and it’s seeming to be the same here in Idaho. I think the water that comes isn’t natural water and I wonder if it’s contributing to why we have so many forest fires . I wonder if the water that falls from these manufactured clouds isn’t making vegetation more flammable. I remember seeing silver droplets on the leaves of my trees back in Texas after cloud seeding flights. I believe it’s all connected. We rely on water for just about everything we use just day to day. To think our planet can’t seem to generate “natural” water like it once did is very concerning to me.

The other thing I touched on is the potential train wreck I’m seeing ahead with the conversion to electric vehicles. I think the cart has been put in front of the horse about this. Can the current power grid support the massive increase of demand that will come with billions of electric vehicles without bankrupting most consumers with high electric bills? The smart thing to do would be to make sure we have sustainable power generation modalities to keep up with the increased demand. The back up to most alternative power generating modalities is usually gas. Nuclear power with proper safety procedures in place and proper facility maintenance is probably the near term answer. If the US would recycle fuel cells that would be good too. I just am seeing things moving really fast to get people into electric cars but the infrastructure needed to support it doesn’t seem to exist right now. I think ultimately consumers are really going to be footing a big expense. Seems to be that way no matter what we do doesn’t it?!!

Anyhew….I hope some visionaries are thinking about these things. It seems like so many people that control what makes our world go are using crisis management. Doing things and asking for forgiveness later.

9 March 2022 Finding the Positive in Others and Ourselves

Check out 9 March 2022 Wednesday chat https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1420371766

Hello to you. I hope this finds you well. There was a great message in A Woman’s Spirit today about how if we can find positive attributes in other people we can find the positive within ourselves. What I learned from reading works by Shakti Gawain is that people are mirrors of ourselves both good and bad. If we don’t like someone or something chances are it’s because we are seeing a part of ourselves we don’t like or we were like that but have moved beyond it. I am trying to do this practice when I look at what’s going on with Putin. What is his existence trying to teach us? I believe ultimately God has the final say with all of this that is going on. What is God trying to teach us right now? What are we supposed to be learning? I think about bullies beating up the little kids on the block. How long do the spectators allow the bullying to go on? God is in charge- that’s what I feel anyways. I can’t help but think of what happened in A Christmas Story…..is “Ralphie” going to snap?

A Woman’s Spirit messages:

“Believe the best in yourself. Then it is easier to believe the best in others.”-Mardy Kopischke

“The contribution I can make today is really so easy. All I need to do is focus on a positive quality not only in someone else but also in myself. “

Todays psalm really resonated with the times we are facing:

Psalm 49[a]

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

Hear(A) this, all you peoples;(B)
    listen, all who live in this world,(C)
both low and high,(D)
    rich and poor alike:
My mouth will speak words of wisdom;(E)
    the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.(F)
I will turn my ear to a proverb;(G)
    with the harp(H) I will expound my riddle:(I)

Why should I fear(J) when evil days come,
    when wicked deceivers surround me—
those who trust in their wealth(K)
    and boast(L) of their great riches?(M)
No one can redeem the life of another
    or give to God a ransom for them—
the ransom(N) for a life is costly,
    no payment is ever enough—(O)
so that they should live on(P) forever
    and not see decay.(Q)
10 For all can see that the wise die,(R)
    that the foolish and the senseless(S)also perish,
    leaving their wealth(T) to others.(U)
11 Their tombs(V) will remain their houses[b]forever,
    their dwellings for endless generations,(W)
    though they had[c] named(X) lands after themselves.

12 People, despite their wealth, do not endure;(Y)
    they are like the beasts that perish.(Z)

13 This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,(AA)
    and of their followers, who approve their sayings.[d]
14 They are like sheep and are destined(AB)to die;(AC)
    death will be their shepherd
    (but the upright will prevail(AD) over them in the morning).
Their forms will decay in the grave,
    far from their princely mansions.
15 But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;(AE)
    he will surely take me to himself.(AF)
16 Do not be overawed when others grow rich,
    when the splendor of their houses increases;
17 for they will take nothing(AG) with them when they die,
    their splendor will not descend with them.(AH)
18 Though while they live they count themselves blessed—(AI)
    and people praise you when you prosper—
19 they will join those who have gone before them,(AJ)
    who will never again see the light(AK)of life.

20 People who have wealth but lack understanding(AL)
are like the beasts that perish.(AM)

4 March 2022 Dreams

Check out 4 March 2022 Friday chat (dreams) https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1415186521

Hello to you. How are you today? It’s a sunny Friday here in Middleton. It’s a lovely 45 degrees! Spring is definitely in the air!

Last night I experienced a lot of dreams. The first dream was of laying in a bed and looking out into another room of pitch black. It was like I was in another persons body and was struggling to say The Lords Prayer. The person was so scared they could hardly speak the words. I woke up into another dream where I was crying for my Dad. I woke up into yet another dream where my stepmom appeared by the light by my bed asking if I was alright. It was like she was really there. I got out of bed and followed her down a hall. I told her I was worried about Dad and described the first dream I had! It was so comforting for me to see her. There were lots of other dreams but these really stood out because of how they were like having dreams within dreams…thinking your awake but your still sleeping.

Todays Twitch Stream was short. Sometimes it’s like that – short and sweet is all that’s needed. The message from A Woman’s Spirit talked about how some lessons in this life are painful. How occasionally our Higher Power has to get our attention. How we can pray for help to understand these experiences. I look at what is going on in my individual world and realize that I need to keep being more active to combat the pain I’m feeling in my legs. As I look at my life I am realizing that God is starting to ask more of me and gradually I am able to give it. I look at what is going on in the world and see with the crisis that is going on we as a world are pulling together- some of us praying more now than we ever have. We as a world have a common goal of wanting peace and good relations with our neighbors near and abroad. We are once again learning with war how fragile peace is…..how fragile we are. We are learning how much we have in common. Last night I not only prayed for the Ukraine but I prayed for the world- that God will take Putin in hand and set things right again – war isn’t ok! We’ve come too far as a world to resort to such things. What are we supposed to be learning with this conflict?!

“I will experience the calm times and the storms. From both I will discover my purpose.” (A Woman’s Spirit)

Psalm 32:10

Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.

3 March 2022 Where To Find God – In or Out? Finding Balance

Check out 3 March 2022 Thursday Chat (Late Start) https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1414192132

Hello to you. How are you? Link and I are doing ok. Last night we had a little drama here at the house. I had trimmed the matted hair around Links feet and got the brilliant idea to try and trim his nails. Bad move! Without having someone to hold him I just can’t do it by myself. So….doing extra laundry today to get blood out of it. Felt so bad!!!

On my Twitch Stream today we talked about what’s going on overseas right now. I have been focused on Putin and wanting God to deal with him. From the pictures I’ve seen of him lately he doesn’t look well physically like something is wrong. The Woman’s Spirit message was good but it provoked some questions. We are taught through religion and society to look outside of ourselves for completeness. Many of us as a result don’t know who we are! The Psalm 31 I read was just another crying out to God for help. Alot of the psalms are. Do we have free will or not? Why does it feel like the church of today I see seems to want us to have a codependent relationship with God? What has been coming to me lately is the importance of finding balance- to be able to discern where I am in the equation of having a healthy relationship with the God of my understanding. God may have all the answers but does seem to leave a lot for us to figure out on our own – through our own life experience. Like I said, I struggle with the mentality I see in religion. If we completely turn ourselves over to God where is the free will in that? Are we then nothing more than automatons? How are we to ever know who we truly are if we are always looking outward from ourselves for how to live this life? I think that finding balance is key.

Where do we find God? Outside? Inside? It seems like everywhere if I really think about who and what God is. I’ll never forget sitting with my Dad on my back porch in Texas. We were talking about God and we agreed that God is in everything. I think it’s our expectations that can get in the way of attaining balance in our relationship with the God of all. We put our expectations on how God answers our prayers and I know personally it’s those expectations that sometimes make me not see God is in fact answering prayers. Again it’s a balance between our inner and outer worlds – our spirituality…..our relationship with the God of our understanding.

What just came to me is thinking about prayers being answered like someone playing a strategy game. Many separate pieces have to move for an overall outcome to be achieved…. an ultimate goal to be reached. Just yesterday I saw a good analogy from Elevation Church “God sees the whole puzzle.” God invented the puzzle of this life and knows how all the pieces fit together.

Find balance in and outside yourself and don’t put expectations on your relationship with God – especially with prayers! Let God be God. These are things I am having to work on each day!

A Woman’s Spirit messages for today:

“Time and again I have searched for you, not knowing that it was me I needed to find.” -Betty MacDonald

“I will pay attention to who I am today. I will honor the whole of me. I know genuine happiness can be found only in this way.”

2 March 2022 Wednesday

Check out 2 March 2022 Wednesday chat https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1413179695

Hello to you. How are you? I’m doing ok. Last night was rough again. My right leg has been giving me pains but I was able to get some relief by focusing on thinking of God healing it. I had to ask myself what I wanted and focus on that.

I listened to the state of the union address last night. There were a lot of good things discussed but I found myself feeling skeptical though. He talked about wanting to fix so many things that have been going on for such a long time. Will the powers and principalities of our world let him do anything he talked about?! What do I want?! Meaningful and lasting change that benefits every citizen not just a few. Let’s see if “they” let him do anything. Definitely a prayer item!

Speaking of prayers my Uncles sister is in the hospital not doing well. Please keep Pam in your prayers! Seems like everywhere I turn, near and far prayers are needed! I can’t turn a blind eye to suffering. I try to remind myself though, the question I have to ask myself about it all, “what do I want?!” It’s so important to remember the power we all have. We can choose what and who we give our personal to- what we focus our energy on. If we focus on anxiety and things that we fear there will be more of that. What we focus on expands and gains power in our lives. If we can mind our thoughts we are using our freedom. The rest we have to let God about!

I want to remind you that everything I write and talk about in my Twitch Streams is to remind myself too!!

Todays A Woman’s Spirit message was about letting people live their lives and learn the lessons they need to learn. The necessity of boundaries between ourselves and others. I struggle with boundaries! I struggle with making other peoples problems my problems. We live in such an interconnected world. What our neighbors, family, friends and even coworkers do with their individual lives ultimately affects all of us. It’s hard for me to ignore that reality and just focus on my own life. I guess I’ve always looked at life as being a big picture. What’s key I guess is making sure what I am doing with my own life doesn’t adversely impact myself and all the living beings I share this life with. It’s hard to do sometimes! Everything is cause and effect.

“I have enough to do to just to live my life today. I can show my love for others best if I let them live their lives too.” (A Woman’s Spirit)

Enabling: n. 1. a process whereby someone (i.e., the enabler) contributes to continued maladaptive or pathological behavior (e.g., child abuse, substance abuse) in another person.

28 February 2022 Monday

Check out 28 February 2022 Monday chat https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1410862988

Hello to you. How are you? I wasn’t here yesterday. I decided to take the day off. I went to church in the morning and once again I had trouble with the message. It’s probably just me. As a person who is very sensitive and uses my heart and feelings a lot it was hard to hear that I shouldn’t be doing that so much. I don’t think God just wants a bunch of automatons running around doing his bidding. Don’t we have free will? I am working on turning to God first but still use my heart. We prayed for the people of the Ukraine. I’m praying for them, Russia and this whole world. I’m praying for Putin too. It’s easy to pray for those who like and love us. We need to pray for those who harm us too.

Anyhew. After church I went with my friend to a rock and gem show in Boise. Wow! From the first table on I could feel the place was just vibrating! It’s like the rocks and gems were all crying out “hey! Pick me!” As I’ve mentioned before I used to really have a problem with compulsively buying jewelry. So me going to such an event was tough but I was good and didn’t buy anything. ALOT of beautiful things were there and lots of people. We went to Dickeys Barbeque afterwards and that tasted good. We both had the brisket. It was kind of weird as there was only two people running the whole place. It looked like s lot of their business was carry out. It was nice to get out with a friend!

In the evening I watched the rebroadcast of Elevation Church service and that was interesting. Pastor Steven Furtick was reading from Genesis. How everything God created had a purpose. He tied that in with an example of what people do, like being birds put in a fish bowl. Birds were made to fly. So many of us aren’t doing what we were made for. I think he was saying we were designed to worship God and that’s not entirely what’s happening. It’s the world we’ve made where the primary amount of our existence is devoted to the worship and care of people, places and things. It’s hard sometimes to find a balance in our devotions! To put our relationship with God as we understand them first in our busy lives.

“Choosing love as a way of life eliminates most of the conflict that undermines our well-being . Having faith that God is in charge takes care of the rest.” (A Woman’s Spirit)

26 February 2022 Responsible Creation

It was hard getting up this morning

Hello to you. How’s your day going? I’m getting a late start to the day. I just didn’t want to get out of bed!

Check out 26 February 2022 Saturday chat https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1408892493 my

Todays Twitch stream was good. We talked about a lot of stuff today! Addiction, the choice to have pets, psalm 26, different cultures living together, world peace, technology and responsible creation. One of my viewers asked if I feel like technology has brought people together and my answer was yes but it’s also a bit of an illusion. With technology I’m able to communicate with people all over the world – something without technology I wouldn’t be able to do. Without technology my life would be very lonely….but I have to remind myself that technology isn’t a replacement for one to one contact. Technology can’t replace what happens between people having face to face contact.

I wish there were more visionaries in the world of creation. So much of our worlds operations is based on short sightedness. How much money will this make me? Not how will this be a benefit to mankind. Follow from creation and through the entire life cycle of what is being created – where is what I want to create going to end up? Taking responsibility for our creations. When I really started thinking about my crafts and hobbies I ended up stopping a lot of what I was doing! I liked to paint but realized the environmental impact of my enjoying it – the paint in the water for example. One area of late that I am concerned about with this is robotics. I would like to see more vigilance….more regulation but it’s already kind of too late! Anyways, talked about a lot today.

“Focus on how we are the same not how we are different.” – me

My thoughts and prayers are with the people of the Ukraine and Russia – any part of our shared world that is in conflict of any kind. We must learn to focus as a world on what we have in common not how we are different – what separates us. It’s like taking out your mental gratitude list. Once you think of one thing a whole bunch of others come to your mind! I just hope everything is going to be alright with all of this.

I highly recommend this video – we are all responsible for the “stuff” that gets manifested in this world: https://youtu.be/9GorqroigqM

ob·so·les·cence/ˌäbsəˈlesəns/Learn to pronouncenoun

  • the process of becoming obsolete or outdated and no longer used.”computers are infamous for their rapid obsolescence”

The Ocean Clean up Project: https://youtu.be/8HQEd_IX6A8. I’m very proud there are young people like Boyan Slat in the world.